Do educational interventions targeted to nail salon workers and customers improve infection control practices in these salons?

The need for a multi-level approach to occupational safety and health among Asian and Asian American beauty service workers

Asian and Asian Americans (A/AA) are a group overlooked in general health outcomes but especially occupational safety and health outcomes. In the United States, the beauty service microbusiness industry (e.g., nail salons) predominantly employs immigrant Asian women who regularly encounter a plethora of occupational hazards (e.g., harmful chemical exposures -toluene, formaldehyde, bloodborne pathogens, fungi. However, due to the precariousness of beauty service jobs, cultural and linguistic barriers, and social determinants of health, A/AA beauty service workers face complex occupational safety and health challenges that require interdisciplinary collaboration and cultural competency to address. This commentary will discuss a multi-level approach including specific outreach partners that will offer the required diverse skillsets necessary for improving the occupational safety and health for this worker population in this microbusiness industry. Implications and suggestions for interventions and policy changes are also recommended utilizing the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities' Research Framework.

A participatory approach to designing and implementing an occupational health intervention for the nail salon community in the Greater Philadelphia region

BACKGROUND

The nail salon industry in the US comprises mostly immigrant-owned, small mom-and-pop salons that employ primarily first-generation immigrant workers from Asia. Because of the cultural and language barriers, both owners and workers may not avail themselves of the occupational safety resources. We formed an academic-community partnership to co-design a feasibility study and multi-level occupational health intervention for Vietnamese-speaking salon owners, workers, and community-based organization.

METHODS

The intervention for each salon included (i) 2-h in-person training covering chemical safety, infection control, musculoskeletal prevention, and workers' rights for both the owners and their employees, (ii) a tailored recommendation report for the owner, and (iii) check-ins with the owner during the 3-month follow-up. Community partner was trained to deliver the in-language training with technical assistance from the research team. Baseline and post-intervention individual data about health symptoms and behaviors, as well as personal chemical exposures were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 44 participants from 12 consented salons enrolled in the study. One salon dropped out at follow-up due to change of ownership. Analysis of the differences between post-and pre-intervention showed a tendency toward reduction in some self-reported symptoms in the respiratory system, skin, and eyes, neurotoxicity score, as well as chemical exposures. We could not rule out seasonality as an explanation for these trends. Increase in self-efficacy in some areas was observed post-intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated a successful academic-community partnership to engage community members in the intervention study. While the intervention effects from this feasibility study should be interpreted with caution, our preliminary results indicated that our community-based intervention is a promising approach to reduce work-related exposures among Asian American nail salon workers.

Dermatophyte infections in environmental contexts

Fungal dermal diseases caused by the molds of the Dermatophyte family are among the most frequent infectious diseases affecting quality of life. There are 3 attributed sources of infection by Dermatophytes:1) humans; 2) animals and 3) soil. Dermatophytes posses the ability to utilize keratin from human and animal tissues, or debris from dead animal sources found in soil, such as feathers, skin or nails. Hence, Dermatophytes are abundant in different ecological niches. All 3 groups can infect humans, causing dermatophytoses manifested in different clinical entities involving skin, hair or nails. The mode of infection of the Dermatophytes is via direct or indirect contact. Dermatophytes are found universally, however the relative prevalence of dermatophytoses caused by different Dermatophytes may vary in different geographic areas according to climatic conditions or lifestyle. Thus, studies in different geographic areas assessing the specific fungal etiology involved are of epidemiological relevance serving as baseline information for management of dermatophytoses at the local level. The present article will focus, mostly, on epidemiological data from published surveys conducted in different geographic/climatic areas analyzing the prevalence of specific Dermatophyte species in regard to gender, age, type of infection in context of environmental factors.